


welcome to the club

by exyjunkies



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Flirting, M/M, Strangers to Lovers, and andrew steps because he's done being annoyed, and it translates into bad egoistic flirting, and neil is so not interested, by everyone around him, might be a chapter fic if people want a continuation, or if i'm inspired enough to continue, wherein riko has a crush on neil
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-01
Updated: 2018-07-01
Packaged: 2019-05-28 23:28:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,038
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15060137
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/exyjunkies/pseuds/exyjunkies
Summary: Shaking off Kevin’s arm, Andrew grunted, “One college party.” Kevin fist-pumped. “That’s it.”Written forAndreil Week, Day 1:fake dating





	welcome to the club

**Author's Note:**

> the title's taken from one of panic! at the disco's songs - [one of the drunks](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cc7GJAMo5SY)! also [listen to pray for the wicked on spotify](https://open.spotify.com/album/6ApYSpXF8GxZAgBTHDzYge)

Five words. That was all Andrew Minyard had to say for his college life to take a complete 360. He also thinks it’s very unfortunate that of all the metaphors he could’ve easily used, it just had to be a math metaphor.

It was a Friday, the weekend before everyone’s hell week, and Kevin was in the mood to go against his parents’ wishes for him to stay a model university student. Andrew always wondered why they chose to send him to Palmetto State University, when they knew full well that their son would rebel as soon as he was settled in his dorm. Maybe their love for Kevin completely overshadowed things and made them underestimate just how much Kevin was willing to be disobedient.

PSU had it all: the campus rumor mill (which involved everything, from the girl whose skirt flew up in the middle of the quad, to the boy with the most recent swirlie), the growing concern for the state of the academe (because yes, there really _is_ nothing you can do about students’ decreasing GPAs if they’re not made to care about it themselves), and a place for just about every student stereotype on campus. The cliques thrived on being known and glorified by the isolationists, the organizations worked for their sake more than the general public’s, the professors knew all about who among them recycled tests, and the food was slightly more bearable on Mondays and Thursdays.

PSU was also home to a very distinct college party culture – while there were exclusive parties (Andrew always chose to stay away from the university’s Greek system, and he couldn’t say much for those parties held by the elitist majors, like the Engineering students), most of the mixers, raves, and bashes were open to all. It was for this very reason that most of the campus knew each other, and also why PSU was known to outsiders as ‘that shindig school’.

Now, a few days away from their exams, Kevin very much felt like breaking the no-DDS (drinking-drugs-smoking) rule by his parents. Or as much of it as possible, anyway.

“We’re _sophomores_ , man,” Kevin whined, as if this argument wasn’t already being reiterated for the past hour. He and Andrew were in the dorm they shared, one of them working through the assigned chapters for their History final next Monday (Kevin) and one of them pointedly ignoring their roommate’s whining in favor of playing darts (Andrew).

Apparently, for some reason, Kevin cannot stomach the idea of going to a college party alone. Which was weird, considering he wasn’t even shunned by anyone in the university. If anything, he was known as ‘that guy with the money’ – and his grades were stellar enough that a few have question if he paid for them to be that high. If Andrew cared enough to admit it, Kevin should be iffy about bringing _him_ along. There was a reputation Andrew very much wanted to keep, and it fell somewhere between ‘well, all I know is, he hasn’t done anything bad’ and ‘he’s so scary and he seems so angry all the time, we all should stay away’. He would very much want to keep it that way.

“It’s not as if it’ll hurt you or anything,” Kevin added, tossing a pillow at Andrew’s hip, which was successfully deflected. Andrew shook his head and wondered when this was going to end. “I’ll be there the whole time. Do it for me. Your roommate. Your closest friend. Your best friend. You might even say, ‘your ride or die’, or something to that effect—”

“I would say, “You’re being annoying,” but obviously, you already know that, and yet you have no concrete plans of going to rehab,” Andrew deadpanned, getting ready to toss another dart.

“Imagine that this is your head, Kevin.” The dart became a bulls-eye. Andrew gestured to the dart and raised an eyebrow. “Do you get my point?”

Kevin closed his book and sat up straight in his chair, unfazed. Andrew sighed and took the dart out of the center.

“Think about it, Andrew. The rest of our lives might start in _this one college party_. We’ve already lived through an entire year of uni with little to no excitement in our lives. _I’ve_ kept to my parents’ desire for me to be some golden boy—”

“Which you still are, because you haven’t stood up to them.”

“—and _you’ve_ kept to yourself and your… weird, yet somewhat understandable, desire for seclusion. I’ve stood by you through all that. What’s it going to take for you to live a little?”

“There are a lot of things I could say right now, and most of them would involve you humiliating yourself.”

Andrew was actually tempted to ask Kevin to walk into one of the frat houses on campus and steal something, but that was pushing it. Still, the idea of Kevin being caught and getting duct-taped to a wall of one of the buildings on-campus _would_ be amusing.

“Don’t waste your breath, Minyard.”

“I could say the same for you, Day.”

“Oh, _come on_. Don’t tell me you haven’t thought of _one reason_ you’d go out of this dorm room and immerse yourself into the,” at this, Kevin made an air rainbow with his hands, “so-called ‘college experience’.”

For Andrew, his college experience so far was:

  * professors being surprised when he knew the answer despite not listening to the lecture;
  * one of the men on the football team trying to bully him to scare him, only to end up with a black eye;
  * students constantly asking Kevin why he put up with ‘that short blond kid with an attitude problem’; and
  * Aaron actively avoiding him in the hallways, even though all he wanted was the best for his brother (which definitely did not include that cheerleader).



If he wanted Kevin’s suggestion to change all that, he would say so.

“No, thanks,” he said, putting up a hand at the sight of Kevin’s crestfallen face. “Besides, you only want me there to be able to back you up in the event that Thea shows up.”

Kevin visibly blanched at the idea. Thea Muldani, a senior, was Kevin’s ex-girlfriend of six months. Thea showed up to parties frequently, and half the time, she was with some new boy. For whatever reason, she _always_ made it a point to be seen by Kevin. Andrew thought it was because Thea liked having someone to wrap her finger around, but Kevin always made it a point to appear unbothered by their history and to look better than he felt. To make the entire sob story short, they broke up because he was too young and immature and Thea was looking for someone who actually knew where his future was headed.

“ _Not some History major who has a useless fascination for the past_ ,” the voicemail had said, leaving Kevin distraught and Andrew, admittedly, a bit shaken himself. To hear that as a freshman was incredibly discouraging. Luckily enough, Kevin wasn’t so hurt that he considered changing his major. Andrew thought he was probably too much of a nerd to ever even _think_ about doing that.

“ _No_ , and that’s not even what we’re talking about,” Kevin replied, emphasizing his ‘no’ with a finger pointed at Andrew. “A lot of this has to do with _you_ , actually.”

Andrew hoped he felt as amused as he looked. “Oh, really? Do tell.”

“I just feel like a change of scenery would do you some good, Andrew,” Kevin reasoned, standing up and taking Andrew’s next dart from his hand.

“It’s not as if I’m forcing you to make friends, or to drink until your ass gives out, or to make out with the first person to give you a once-over. I’m saying that there is a whole world outside this dorm room and outside the classroom and outside that bubble you’ve made for yourself. I’m saying that this doesn’t have to be it.”

Kevin closed one eye and continued, “If I get this to the center, you’re going, Minyard. No ifs, buts, or whys.”

He threw the dart, and hit a bulls-eye.

Andrew blinked once, twice at the target. He thought about how he _still_ didn’t want to go. But he also knew that if he had to listen to Kevin wax poetic some more about life and its importance, he would have to vomit the last two things he ate. Kevin looked up at him expectantly and yanked at his arm.

“Pleeeeeeaseeee—”

Shaking off Kevin’s arm, Andrew grunted, “One college party.” Kevin fist-pumped. “That’s it.”

-*-

The ride to Allison Reynolds’ house saw a very excited Kevin and a stone-faced Andrew. Her house (“Talk about redefining ‘house’ to mean ‘mansion’, honestly.”) was around ten minutes from PSU, and it was party central for a lot of the community. Word was that her parents were out on business a lot, and very rarely came home to check on the house and on Allison. This was what prompted Allison to constantly throw parties and attempt to make enough of a mess that her parents would notice. Other people who organized parties either had a house of around the same caliber, or enough alcohol that people didn’t mind it being held in a backyard.

“I heard the freshmen were invited to this one,” Kevin remarked, looking at the party invite, as if he missed some crucial detail. A bunch of it was scattered around campus, making the staff very pissed about having to clean up for the visitors on Sunday, the administration very stressed about not being able to track down the one who littered, and the students very pleased about the accessibility of the party. Andrew wondered to himself why a text brig wouldn’t have the same effect.

He made a face. “Don’t get the appeal, but sure.” Andrew was very much sold on the fact that _he himself_ was annoying as a freshman.

“It _means_ that there’s a fresh bunch of people we don’t know yet.”

“I don’t know most people in PSU, just saying.”

“Well, tonight, that changes. Your antisocial ass _and_ your attitude.”

They pulled up outside the Reynolds residence, the party already in full swing. Kevin muttered, more to himself than Andrew, “Well, they always said people shouldn’t be on time to these affairs.”

“Can I be permanently late, then absent?”

Kevin scoffed. He tugged on Andrew’s jacket sleeve and dragged him forward. “Come on, Grumpy of the Seven Dwarves, let’s go inside.”

Inside, the loud music flowed in from the backyard, where a PSU band was playing. Andrew noted that there was _a lot more people_ than he was used to. On the stairs were some couples making out. Groups of people stood and sat around the living room, talking or dancing or drinking or a combination of the three. The drinks station was stocked enough for another party to happen simultaneously. Boxes of pizza and chicken wings were scattered haphazardly around.

“ _Coming throoooough!”_ A guy with a helmet on a skateboard rolled through, making Kevin step back and clutch at his chest. A loud crash in the kitchen was heard. Helmet Guy seemed to be pleased, as he managed to hit his target: a set of bowling pins. “ _That was fucking sick!_ ”

“So when does this become a good idea?” Andrew yelled over to Kevin, who rolled his eyes and dragged him deeper into the party.

As they went inside the other parts of the house’s first floor, they came across more people, some of whom didn’t even go to PSU. A beer pong table was set up by the grand piano, people playing in teams and cheering on their respective players. A few girls were walking around with trays of drinks and shots, both jello and hard alcohol. Kevin took a beer from one tray and greeted a few familiar faces, who all smiled at him, then shot Andrew suspicious and/or curious looks of their own.

“I know,” Andrew replied, nodding and agreeing with their sentiment. “I don’t know why I’m here either.”

“Be nice, now, will you?” Kevin scolded, nudging Andrew with his elbow.

“Kevin Day, as I live and breathe.”

Nicky Hemmick was coming towards them, a big grin on his face and his arms stretched wide. Andrew’s sour mood lifted a bit at seeing his cousin. The three of them were all in sophomore year, but they barely saw Nicky because of his different course load as a theater major.

“Nicky,” Kevin greeted warmly, going for Nicky’s offered hug. When they pulled apart, Nicky took one look at Andrew and dramatically gasped.

“And you got _him_ to come! I’m going to rename you. You should be called ‘Miracle Worker’ or something.”

“He’s taking great strides in his development as a thirteen-year-old. I believe it’s called puberty.”

Andrew moved his head away from Kevin’s hand and frowned. “That’s rich, Kevin. Just know evolution is coming for people like you.”

“Now, now, fellas,” Nicky clapped the both of them on the back. “There is no place for childish squabbling in this party! You guys better get along, or get going.

“Besides, there are,” Nicky paused for dramatic effect, “a _lot_ of people you’d want to be on your best behavior for tonight. Just a heads-up.”

Nicky pointed his thumb to the left and right, and Kevin and Andrew looked. Several unfamiliar faces, all either huddled together as their own group, or being talked to by upperclassmen. Freshmen.

“Don’t tell me you’ve already got your eyes on one of them, Nicky?” Kevin asked, crossing his arms. He looked at the indicated freshmen critically. “None of them look very promising to me.”

Andrew was _about_ to agree. He probably should’ve, given that he wasn’t interested in going to this party in the first place, more so a one-night-stand with a stranger he’ll never see again.

But then his eyes landed on one particular guy, back against the wall, a can in one hand, his phone in the other. Auburn hair, a slender body, probably taller than him. Head bobbing slightly with the music. A dark gray t-shirt, denim jeans, Converse sneakers, a watch on the left wrist.

Then he looked up, and Andrew caught _just_ a glimpse of his startling bright blue eyes, before he looked away. There was a weight on his chest that he’d never felt before. He sincerely hoped he went unnoticed.

“Hellooooo, Earth to Andrew,” Kevin waved a hand in front of his face. Nicky had a look of concern on his face. “We were just about to go outside and check out the band. You good here, or…..?”

Andrew cleared his throat. He didn’t think he needed music. What he _did_ need was a stiff drink.

“I’m gonna get myself a drink. If they have any whiskey here, I might just consider staying.”

He made his way through the throes of people, a little quicker than normal. Some groups he had to shove apart just so he could get to the drinks station.

 _What was up with that?_ Andrew had known for quite some time now that he found men attractive, and women… well, he found them okay. There were people who flaunted their sexuality everywhere they went, and he wasn’t one of them. He never really made the effort to date someone, and when he _did_ think of someone even a _little bit_ in that way, he repressed the desires enough that they died down almost immediately. Dating fell under the ‘waste of Andrew’s time’ category, and was, for all intents and purposes, not acted upon.

Still, there were some people in PSU he didn’t mind giving a second glance, or maybe even let his imagination run wild a little with if he had the energy.

But Gray T-shirt _just had_ to look like how he did. And Andrew had never seen him around campus, so it was either he was a freshman, or someone’s plus one.

 _If he was my plus one_, Andrew thought to himself, _I wouldn’t be able to let him out of my sight_.

After years of being himself, he has experienced enough to learn that he didn’t have a specific type. Whoever caught his eye long enough for him to think about them was considered attractive. Besides, it was a waste of time to craft a taste for people when everyone was shitty in their own way anyway.

When he told Kevin about this specific mentality, his response was an indifferent, “Meh. You’ll meet someone who’ll change _all_ that.” He had poked Andrew in the forehead once, then in the stomach twice. “You’re humane in there somewhere.”

He perused the options available at the drinks station. There were several choices, and with Allison being the host of this particular party, there were soft drinks and juices along with the alcoholic drinks for people’s creative inclinations. What Andrew wanted was something sufficient and straight to the point. A jolt to the system, a slap to the soul. Like a shot of vodka.

“Do you always run off like that?”

The voice ( _clear, curious_ ) came from behind him, and Andrew froze, cup in hand. There were many people in PSU who haven’t gone up to him and talked to him, but the odds of it being just _anyone_ —

Andrew supposed soon was a better time than any to face the music, and turned around.

Gray T-shirt stood up a little straighter, hands in his pockets. He had a smirk Andrew wanted to bottle up and keep in his pocket.

“Hey, stranger,” he said, smiling and making Andrew’s brain go all haywire. Up close, the man was even more attractive than ten minutes ago. He had a sprinkle of freckles across his face, and he was a little less than half a foot taller than Andrew was.

“Andrew,” the blond man mustered, trying his best to not sound mean by default (which, according to Kevin, he usually did). Gray T-shirt nodded, as if finding out Andrew’s name mattered _that_ much. He shrugged and turned back to the drinks station to prepare his drink. “I was taught to avoid danger like everybody else.”

“But you don’t even know me,” Gray T-shirt mused, coming up beside Andrew, grabbing himself another can ( _root beer_ ), and popping a pretzel in his mouth. Resting one hand on the table, he angled himself in front of Andrew and offered his other hand.

A moment after chewing his pretzel, he shook his head and said, “I’m Neil. Sorry for being weird. This party just doesn’t live up to the entire built-up hype.”

“I can’t imagine it does,” Andrew replied, taking Neil’s hand ( _warm_ ) and shaking it a little slower than was normal. Slow enough for him to know that there was _definitely_ something here.

Clearing his throat, Andrew took his hand out of Neil’s and grabbed his cup of vodka.

“You new here, Neil?”

He sincerely hoped he sounded casual and interested like how anyone would be interested in a new student, not like he wanted to kill Neil.

“Yep. Freshman. Language major,” Neil grinned. As if he could hear the nervousness. “You?”

“I’m a sophomore. Art major, specifically in painting. It’s nothing much, though.”

“Oh? And here I thought you weren’t the modest type, Andrew.”

Andrew’s jaw clenched. He had the feeling of wanting to punch this guy in the face. Or kiss him in the face. Whatever’s more attuned to his currently indiscernible instinct.

“Tsk. Whatever.” Andrew put a hand in his jacket pocket and turned away. He went to the wall next to the drinks station, leaned against it, and put the cup to his lips.

When he saw Neil just staring at him ( _with those damn eyes_ ), he raised his cup and nodded once. Gesturing to the rest of the people in the party, he continued, “Go. Have the time of your life.” No way in hell was he holding back someone from enjoying his youth.

And Neil—get this— _pouted_ a little. Or at least Andrew registered the downturn of his lips as a pout. He rolled his shoulders, as if trying to relax himself, and went stand beside Andrew. He put up his leg on the wall. The same stance Andrew saw him in. _Fuck_.

Neil inhaled, exhaled, and replied, “I think I’m fine here.”

Andrew shrugged. This was a free country.

So the both of them stood there, quietly observing the party from their very much introverted point of view. It occurred to Andrew that he and Neil both have never been to a college party, and were probably seeing the entire scene from the same lens. A couple of guys in the middle of the room were trying to construct tubes— _a beer bong,_ Andrew’s memory served—from materials they found (probably) in Allison’s basement. A girl was shouting a string of incoherent curses from Allison’s open window for some reason. The house dog (a poodle; Andrew didn’t expect anything less) was walking over the body of some girl passed out on the couch. Andrew sneaked a look at his watch. It was around twelve minutes from hitting 10 PM. It was going to be a long while.

Of the two of them, Neil was the first to break the silence. “Why do you even go to these things.”

It didn’t sound like a question. Andrew answered anyway. “I don’t.”

“Then why are you here?”

Andrew turned to face him, and Neil did the same. “My friend made me go. Says it’ll help me become a better person, shit like that. I like to think of it as… a cultural immersion.”

“So you’re doing this to get your friend off your back?”

“More or less.”

“Is he here in the party with you?”

“Yeah. I try to be the good person from time to time, whenever it’s not a burden for me."

“That’s annoying, but acceptable.”

Andrew couldn’t stop himself. “ _You’re_ annoying but accep— well, not really acceptable either.”

The smirk Neil had for him was sharp enough to slice through metal. “Immodest _and_ a very bad liar, too.”

“Congrats, Neil. You know me better than most people already.”

“I was told I have a knack for reading people.”

“Too bad. This is as much as you’re going to get.”

Neil inched closer. “Think I’ll get any further in?”

With Neil this close, Andrew was kind of having a hard time breathing. His entire system was also fully aware this was flirting that he was barely prepared for. _Where the fuck was Kevin?_ He was more than ready to go back to the dorm.

“No.”

Then, Neil— _holyshitfuckinghell_ —leaned in and put his mouth to Andrew’s ear.

“I think I like my chances.”

Before Andrew could come up with a similarly clever retort, a voice in front of them made them jolt away from each other.

“Minyard? What are you doing her— oh, and who might _you_ be?”

 _Christ_. In his surprise, Andrew almost squeezed his cup and spilled his drink. He was about to tell whoever this interruption was off, but one look made him speechless.

In front of them stood (Andrew double-checked and triple-checked and quadruple-checked, and yes, it unquestionably was) Riko Moriyama, PSU’s it-boy. What made him particularly infamous was how his father’s reputation and money was enough to scare people into doing whatever he wanted, even if he was only a sophomore like Andrew and Kevin. He was also known for being particularly vengeful towards those who prevent him from getting what he wanted.

Last year, Kevin had told on Riko for sneaking a calculator into a math exam, and their supervisor was in a particularly bad mood. Riko got sent to the principal’s office. From stories across the rumor mill, his father, Kengo Moriyama, happened to be in the office too, and was able to smooth things out for his son. The Moriyamas, for all their money and power, were in very close ties with the school – they funded all the outreaches, the organization events, the building reconstructions. Because of this, Riko being a bad apple did next to nothing for the school to put him in his place.

The school saw Riko the next day sporting a black eye and a scowl. He had gone up to Kevin and made a grab for his arm and was _almost_ about to twist it out of service if Andrew wasn’t nearby.

He had pushed Riko up against the lockers, leveled their eyes, and said, “ _Oops. Off-limits. Or do you need a dictionary to look that up too?”_

The fear in Riko’s eyes was enough to send him away, long enough for Kevin to live without the discomfort of a target behind his back.

There were several words Andrew had in his vocabulary that he could use to describe Riko. Right now, he had whittled down his options to ‘living trash bag’ and ‘soon-to-be corpse’.

“Neil Josten,” Neil replied, looking somewhat downcast that he and Andrew were interrupted. Andrew felt a bit of himself tingle at the thought. “And you are?”

“Riko Moriyama,” Riko said proudly, angling himself more towards Neil than Andrew. It was so disgustingly _Riko_ that only a string of self-control was keeping Andrew from clocking him square in the face and giving him a bruise in his other eye.

“I think you’re done here,” Andrew warned.

“I don’t think so,” Riko replied, ignoring the threat that Andrew’s tone implied and looking at Neil with a predatory grin. From the looks of it, Neil wasn’t receiving it any better than Andrew was.

“Tell me, Neil, how are you liking PSU so far? It’s almost finals season,” Riko chuckled. “I like that you’re taking some time off to de-stress and have fun by going here.”

“The stress levels here just went _waaay_ up, for some reason,” Neil quipped, making a face. In that moment, Andrew was _sure_ he wanted to kiss this guy.

Failing to pick up on the implication, Riko replied, “Is it because of Minyard here?” He cast a glance at Andrew that was part-gloating, part-disgust. “He’s not one of the good ones. I can tell you that.”

Andrew raised an eyebrow. “Like _you’re_ any better.”

“Oh, but I am. Neil here will see later on.”

“Wasn’t aware you were planning on—” Neil was interrupted by Riko closing in and blocking Andrew out. “—em, staying, actually.”

“I can stay here _all night_ , if I have to,” Riko drawled, winking at Neil.

“Is that so,” Neil replied, looking over Riko’s shoulder at Andrew, an apology readable in his eyes.

 _Well_ , Andrew thought. _It was too good to be true, anyway_. Riko had taken over, and Andrew had neither the energy to make him back off, nor the patience to wait for Neil to realize that Riko was bigger trouble than Andrew could ever be. As much as he wanted to punch the daylights out of Riko, tonight was not that night. Besides, if he wanted to live up to his personal motto of not pursuing anything past attraction, he had to leave now. There was no room for weakness. Self-preservation was a tried-and-tested method for Andrew, and it only worked if he worked with it.

Besides, he cannot stand the thought of being interested in the same type of people Riko was into. The mere possibility gave him goosebumps.

Just as he was turning around to go and search for Kevin and Nicky, he heard Neil’s voice from behind him.

“Wait, uh,” Neil called out, “Andrew. You’re not going to leave me, are you?”

Slowly turning back to face both Neil and Riko, Andrew deadpanned, “What.”

“ _Duh_ ,” Neil went, walking out of Riko’s space and moving to stand a few feet from Andrew. He crossed his arms, a defiant look on his face. “Or are you forgetting something?”

Andrew hoped his confusion was as evident on his face as it was in his body.

“Like what?”

“Oh my God, you’re actually— did you forget I’m your _boyfriend_?”

The world seemed to stop for Andrew. _Boyfriend?_ Who knew a mere two syllables could make all the screws in motion pause? Everything went mute, and Andrew’s lower body seemed to be paralyzed. He could not walk away and pretend that this was not happening. Neil shot him a look that said, _please just go with it_.

Andrew sure as _fuck_ did not know how he was going to go with it.

So he stood there, dumbfounded, blinking several times. Neil sighed and put two fingers to his forehead, as if this was giving him the biggest headache of all time.

Riko looked between the both of them for a few seconds, and howled.

“ _Wow_ , this must be some sort of,” Riko started, pausing in between to let out more of his laughter. “Some sort of _joke_? This is fucking _priceless_.”

“Do you think a lot of relationships are jokes, Riko?”

“No, but this one _certainly is_.”

“Do I really have to prove myself to _someone I just met_?”

“Neil, please tell me you’re not being serious.”

Neil took one look at Riko and rolled his eyes. There was a lot of effort on Andrew’s part to hold back his amusement at how Neil just _wasn’t_ taking any shit from Riko tonight.

 “Oh, I’ll _give_ you serious.”

A few strides forward, and Neil was in front of Andrew. Then Neil was against Andrew in one instance, and he was _tilting his head up and_ _kissing him_ in the next.

And _holy fuck_ , was Andrew grateful that his body knew how to respond to _that_.

Because Neil kissed him like… like this was something he’d been planning to do. Like he’d wanted to do this the entire night. It had started out slow, tentative, with Neil’s hand lightly behind Andrew’s neck. Like Neil knew that Andrew might want to back out of it at any moment. Thankfully, Andrew had both the common sense and the instinct to close his eyes and just get a feel for it at first.

And it felt _fucking great_.

Now, a very small part of Andrew hoped that Neil wouldn’t be able to tell that this was his first kiss. He didn’t know how much embarrassment there was in being new at anything remotely related to physical affection, but this only meant he had no past experience to compare Neil to. And _God_ did Neil know how to kiss. So Andrew went against every instinct in his body and did what he thought he wouldn’t do: he went with it.

Andrew moved in closer, one hand resting lightly on Neil’s hip, the other by Neil’s jaw, angling his head to lower it and deepen the kiss. It was a moment where Andrew temporarily forgot they were in a party where other people could see them. All Andrew could register was how good Neil felt against him, how he was nipping at Neil’s lower lip, how Neil’s tongue was partially in his mouth, how Neil was quietly moaning, the vibrations reaching all the way down to his toes.

How if they were doing this a lot earlier, they would’ve gone on to doing _other things_ —

Then Andrew remembered that they were in a party where other people could see them.

He broke the long kiss and briefly kissed Neil one last time for posterity, then swiftly turned Neil around so he could have his arm around his waist. Neil made a show of being comfortable by leaning his head against Andrew’s.

“Serious enough for you, Riko?” Andrew taunted, sincerely hoping to the heavens that he bought the act.

“I—” Riko was at a loss for words, his face red with embarrassment. Andrew could feel Neil’s shoulders quivering with laughter.

“Well, I’ll leave you guys to it then,” Riko went, his tone full of annoyance. He shot Andrew a glare full of heat, and walked away.

As soon as Riko was gone, Neil released himself from Andrew’s arm. Andrew did his best to push down the disappointment that shot through him.

“Oh, thank God,” Neil breathed out, bracing himself against the wall for support. “I seriously thought he was never going to leave.”

“I never thought of _that_ method as a means to send an annoying person away,” Andrew replied, eliciting a laugh ( _whole, bright_ ) from Neil.

“Don’t worry. I don’t go around kissing guys I just met to fend off other guys. He was just really getting on my nerves.”

“He does that for a lot, don’t worry. You’re normal.”

“Hit on people he doesn’t know? _Yikes_.”

“Correction: hit on people he thinks is attractive.”

“He can think what he wants. I’m not interested.”

Andrew cleared his throat. At this point, people would normally ask _not interested in him or in dating_? But then he wasn’t like most people. And _that_ would mean admitting he was interested in the entire dating scene in general, or in Neil in particular. So he just nodded and stayed silent.

As if reading his mind though, Neil went on, “He was a complete tool. _Who_ would date him?”

Shrugging, Andrew replied, “You’d be surprised.”

Because Riko _did_ have his own string of failed relationships. All failed, yes, but relationships that still happened _because_ people saw something in him. Andrew did not care in the slightest, but the hallways were never quiet when it came to news.

“Eh. I don’t care enough. What I _do_ want to talk about was that kiss.”

Andrew steeled himself. “And what about it?”

Then, when he thought the night couldn’t get any more bizarre than it already is, Neil shot him a _seriously?_ face. He opened his mouth, as if he wanted to say something, then closed it again. His eyes ( _blue, more to them than just that_ ) darted up to meet Andrew’s directly, then down to the ground. He cleared his throat a little loudly.

“Oh, _come on_. Don’t tell me that wasn’t good for you too?”

And there it was. Everything that Andrew’s avoided up to this point in his life, in front of him, laid out on a silver platter. Andrew felt his heart stop for a full two seconds. There were several ways he could respond to this. Insulting Neil so majorly in the next few sentences that he’ll get a slap and a walk-out. The firm suggestion that they stay friends. Pure indifference about the entire thing.

Kissing Neil again.

Behind him, he heard Kevin’s slurred yelling, “ _Andreeeew_! We’re _leaaaving_!”

Andrew could scream. _God fucking damn it, Kevin_.

Neil looked over his shoulder, a little concerned. “Your friend?”

“Soon-to-be ex-friend.” Andrew clarified. _As soon as I kill him for this_.

“Look,” he continued, hoping the words to come were as smooth as they were difficult to force out. Neil looked at him expectantly.

“Fake boyfriend or not, I don’t give in so easily. So if you were serious about liking your chances,” Andrew shrugged. He put one hand on Neil’s shoulder – partially because he wanted to seem like he was making a mature decision, and also because he had to physically hold Neil back before he went back to kissing him for real. “Then it’ll have to be more than just _this_. We may have already kissed, but that doesn’t get you ahead.”

Neil nodded. “That’s okay. I wouldn’t expect anything less from someone Riko seemed to really fucking hate. I’ll give you this.”

Then, he went up into Andrew’s space again, took out a pen, grabbed his arm, and wrote something on it. Andrew looked down and saw that it was a number. He scoffed a bit at how cliché it was.

“Call me as soon as you want to see if there’s more to it than _just_ the fake boyfriend routine,” Neil said, patting Andrew’s arm. He leaned in again, close enough that Andrew thought they were going to kiss _again_ , then moved to his ear.

“And, um, about the kissing? I didn’t hear you saying you didn’t enjoy it.” Andrew could _hear_ the smirk in his whisper. “I’ll take that for tonight.”

He winked, then walked away, leaving Andrew with a fast-paced heartbeat, a tension-filled body, and a new reason to hate college parties.

**Author's Note:**

> feel free to head on over to [my tumblr](http://exyjunkies.tumblr.com/) and send me some loooove


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